The Electoral Commission has called for a legal mechanism that would ensure strict proportionality in the number of parliamentary seats in the event of a third party making it to Parliament on its own steam.

Current laws lay down that in a two-party Parliament, one party may be given additional seats to ensure that its representation is a fair reflection of the number of first-count votes obtained. This system was used in June’s election when the Nationalist Party was awarded two additional seats.

However, the commission, in a report on that election, points out that if three parties make it to Parliament on their own steam this mechanism cannot be applied.

In the June election a third party, the Democratic Party, got two of its candidates elected but it contested on the PN ticket, so that case is different. But it shows that the possibility of a third party being elected on its own steam is not to be dismissed.

According to the report, the cost of the election was close to €4 million, a figure that does not include the subsidised Air Malta flights for those living abroad who are eligible to vote, which cost a further €1.75 million. As a result the general election bill went up to €5.75 million.

The review contains a breakdown of the expenses incurred by the commission to hold the election, with the bill totalling €3.97 million. The bulk of the expenditure went on assistant commissioners and counting staff.

In terms of organisation, the commission says its biggest concern is the fact that no suitable premises to replace the Naxxar counting hall have yet been identified. The lease for the former Trade Fair complex in Naxxar, which has been in use since 2008, expires in 2019, just in time to hold the next round of European and local council elections which will be held concurrently.

The report points out that despite having been searching for new premises since 2013, no solution has been found to date. The options under consideration are relocation to vacant industrial premises or construction of a brand new complex from scratch. However, all sites earmarked so far had to be dropped as they were outside the development zone.

The commission says it is committed to continue looking as it does not want to depend on third parties and wants to be cost effective in its operations.

The election watchdog also calls for changes in the laws regulating the ‘day of silence’ before election day, the most recent of which date back to 1991 – before the advent of social media. Nonetheless, the report says that the commission tried its best to enforce these archaic restrictions.

Looking ahead, the commission reiterates its plan to introduce electronic vote counting at the 2019 local and European elections, to save time and money. The objective is to have the result in hand in a few hours, rather than days.  As a matter of fact the full result of last June’s election was presented to the Clerk of the House four days after the ballot took place.

As for the new voting document introduced last June, which attracted criticism amid concerns it could be easily smudged, it was pointed out that the change was dictated by the fact that only six of the 14 “obsolete” lamination machines introduced in 1992 were functional. Faced with a tight deadline, the commission opted to use special security paper, which was also cheaper to print.

The report comments on the general election timing, nearly a year before the end of the legislature, saying this had an impact on the commission’s operations. The early timing also affected training for counting staff which had to be postponed.

The election watchdog is also preparing a set of legal amendments to consolidate existing laws which were updated in “piecemeal” fashion.  The commission intends to submit these proposals in the coming months.

The June 3 election was also the first one following the introduction of the party financing law. All the elected candidates submitted their list of expenses within the 10-day deadline, while there were seven non-elected candidates who failed to do so within the 31-day deadline and one who did not do so at all.

Recommendations

• Shift voting for assistant commissioners from Friday to Tuesday so to have a better spread of the early voting sessions.

• Use ID cards to vote, to save the ordeal of printing and distributing voting documents.

• Increase polling stations in certain areas according to demographic trends to minimise waiting time.

• Extend the existing mechanism guaranteeing strict proportionality of the number of seats to first-count votes obtained, to the eventuality of having a third party in Parliament.

• Set up working groups to propose changes in the electoral laws.

Election by numbers

378,041 page views on the commission’s website and 80,989 different visitors between June 1 and 7.

The average time to complete a count went down by 12 minutes over the 2013 election to one hour 48 minutes.

341,856 eligible voters following appeals.

314,696 votes cast, 310,665 valid and 4,031 invalid.

23,013 first-time voters of whom 668 turned 18 between April 1 and June 2.

17,902 voters required assistance – an increase of 553 over the 2013 election.

7,755 out of 8,240 who applied to vote a week early due to commitments abroad actually cast their ballot.

1,019 out of 1,329 hospital patients voted.

180 applications (appeals) filed as a result of which the number of eligible voters increased by 104.

89 per cent of voting documents were delivered directly to households.

8,372 voting documents were uncollected (7,488 in Malta and 844 in Gozo).

511,750 ballot sheets printed.

125 minibuses, 137 coaches used to transport electoral commission staff and ballot boxes.

101 voting stations and 645 polling booths used on election day.

5,412 applications for assistant commissioners with 2,962 places up for grabs.

1,939 applicants for counting staff, of whom 813 were selected.

General election expenses

Item Cost
Assistant commissioners’ remuneration €1,112,219
Temporary staff remuneration €1,116,808
Electoral Office employees remuneration €162,546
Utilities, operating material, supplies, repairs €74,798
Office services €435,196
Transport €355,495
Information services €77,240
Contractual and professional services, hospitality, equipment €634,425
Total €3,968,727
Plus subsidised flights at €90 each for 1,717 voters  €1,750,000

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